Taiwan-based specialists in IC testing have a positive outlook for the memory industry in 2007, although there are also some concerns around overheated prices and growing difficulties in forecasting the supply, said company executives who yesterday attended a forum organized by Advantest Taiwan.

PayPal's San Jose headquarters was bombed Tuesday night. The bomb had been placed outside the conference center exit and the blast shattered one window in the four-story 100,000 square-foot building. Twenty-six employees were inside the building, but no one was hurt.

LCD panel makers will see profits in the fourth quarter from sales of LCD monitors panels, including the 17", 19", 19" widescreen 20" and 20" widescreen segments, as well as 32" LCD TV panels, though makers will still see losses in the 37" and 42" LCD TV panel segments, according to estimates by the Taiwan-based Photonics Industry Technology & Development Association (PIDA).

Third party DRAM companies are following the current trend in the DRAM industry and are on track on to post record revenues for the year. According to a report released by Isuppli, third-party suppliers reported sales of about $5.1 billion in the first half of the year, which is up 15.7% from $4.3 billion in the same period of 2005.

LCD TV panel shipments were larger than PDP shipments at the 37" and above segment for the first time in the third quarter of 2006 and are poised to overtake PDPs at the 40" and larger segment as early as the fourth quarter, according to research firm Displaysearch.

Chicago (IL) - With the Democrats desperately trying to take back control of Congress, and Republicans seemingly in the news every day for a new scandal, Chris Bowers has set into motion a plan to further expand both of these issues by calling for a national liberal team of "Google bombers" who would ideally flood the search engine's online algorithm to highly associate Republican candidates with a single scandal that's been reported about them.

Because of product delays, supply problems, and consumer confusion in various areas of the consumer electronics market, Isuppli, a marketing research firm, is predicting a "dull holiday season" for sales of electronic devices.

Redmond (WA) - Microsoft today announced another solid quarter that pushed revenues beyond $10 billion and profits in the range of $3.5 billion. During the quarter, Microsoft made substantial investments to launch upcoming products such as Zune and Vista and, surprisingly, also encountered rising unit costs of its Xbox 360 console, which sold six million times to date.

After posting a confident outlook for the memory market this quarter, A-Data Technology again stressed the positive impact that new Microsoft's Windows Vista operation system (OS) will bring to the memory business.

The fleecing at Apple Computer continued this week with the theft of two more iPods and 10 software packages from the employee store inside the company's headquarters at 1 Infinite Loop in Cupertino, reports the San Jose Mercury News.

Microsoft will delay the release of the RTM (release to manufacturing) version, or build number 5824, of its Windows Vista operating system (OS) to the second week of November from the originally scheduled fourth week of October, according to sources at Taiwan PC makers who were informed by the software giant of the revised schedule.

Redmond (WA) - Many computer buyers will have a Déjà vu experience when shopping for a new computer this Christmas season. Microsoft is, once again, offering an upgrade coupon for its operating system: Vista won't arrive in time for the holidays, so Microsoft company tries to lure customers with seemingly free Vista upgrades. Before you buy, take a look at the fine print.